Keep Track Of The Patriot League Through Social Media 
In addition to visiting www.patriotleague.org, League fans and followers have plenty of new ways to stay updated and involved during the 2009 Patriot League Tournament. The Patriot League has accounts on Facebook and Twitter, and has now started a blog to give more information on the action on the field. All three accounts are accessible through the multimedia link at the right-hand sidebar on the front page of www.patriotleague.org.

Sophomore Slump? Not Quite
A sophomore has won each of the past two Patriot League Player of the Year awards, meaning the past two Patriot League Player of the Year recipients will both be back on the floor this season. Erica Prosser, last year’s honoree, will be a junior for the defending champion Lehigh Mountain Hawks. Briana McFadden, who won the award in 2008, will be a senior for Holy Cross.

2010 Patriot League Tournament
The 2010 Patriot League Women’s Basketball Quarterfinals and Semifinals will be held in Worcester, Mass. at the Hart Center on the campus of the College of Holy Cross. The tournament is a full-field event, with all eight teams competing for the title. Quarterfinal action will take place on Saturday, March 6, with semifinal games on Sunday, March 7. The 2010 Patriot League Championship game will be played on Saturday, March 13 at the site of the highest remaining seed. The game will be televised by CBS College Sports. The Patriot League champion will receive the Patriot League’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Fourteen Times For No. 1
Though Lehigh’s victory in last season’s Patriot League Championship marked the first time in three years that the No. 1 seed won the title, the top-seeded team has won the crown 14 times in the tournament’s 19-year history. The No.2 seed has won twice, as has the No. 3 seed. 

Exclusive Company For Lehigh
The Lehigh women's basketball team was in even more exclusive company than the 64-team NCAA Tournament field. Lehigh joined a list of 14 teams in the women's tournament that could boast perfect graduation rates, according to a report released by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. Joining Lehigh on the list were top-seeded teams Connecticut and Maryland, as well as DePaul, Evansville, Florida, Marist, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Sacred Heart, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Vanderbilt and Villanova. The Lehigh women's basketball team earned a 3.315 GPA in the fall semester, with four players earning Dean's List distinction. Junior Kristen Dalton led the way with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

Growing Our Community
The Patriot League launched its "Growing Our Community" women's basketball campaign in 2010 as a result of being one of the few selected conferences in the nation to receive grant funding from the NCAA.  The grant is designed to support the growth of women's basketball in the Patriot League community. The goal is to increase the home attendance for the entire 2010 Patriot League women's basketball campaign through a variety of promotions and engaging local organizations to attend and learn more about the Patriot league women's basketball programs, as well as expose individuals to the academic institutions. The target audiences for the program include youth organizations, senior groups, community and civic organizations and students and alumni of each of the eight Patriot League institutions. For more details on the promotions at each game during the 2010 Patriot League campaign, visit www.patriotleague.com/wbbcommunity/

Eight For Six
For the first time in Patriot League history, six teams posted eight or more League victories. It was just the fourth time in League history that six teams recorded at least six League wins.

Team Notebooks

American  
The Eagles return nine letterwinners, including three starters, from a squad that finished second in the Patriot League regular season a year ago. The Eagles have finished the Patriot League regular season in the top two in each of the past two seasons. American, which has made two appearances in the Patriot League championship game, will be seeking its first-ever women’s basketball title since joining the League.  

Army 
Despite the loss of three-time All-Patriot League performer Alex McGuire, Army returns the bulk of its squad that reached the Patriot League semifinals last season. Leading the group is First-Team All-Patriot League selection and Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year Erin Anthony. As a sophomore, Anthony led the League in rebounding (8.2 rpg) and ranked seventh in scoring (12.3 ppg).  

Bucknell 
The Bison will count on a young nucleus this season after the graduations of Amanda Brown and Lauren Schober. Juniors Cosima Higham (7.9 rpg) and Joyce Novacek (6.3 rpg) each ranked in the top 10 in the Patriot League in rebounding as sophomores. Also aiding head coach Kathy Fedorjaka is the return of 2009 Patriot League Rookie of the Year Trisha Krewson.  

Colgate  
Head coach Pam Bass returns all but one player from last year’s team. Of the Raiders’ 13 players on last year’s squad, 10 were freshmen or sophomores. Patriot League All-Rookie Team selection Tricia Oakes is back for her sophomore season after averaging 9.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in 22 contests. Also back is junior Tayler Wejnert, who led the team with 11.7 points per outing after joining the team at mid-season.   

Holy Cross  
The Crusaders have a combined five appearances on the All-Patriot League team between seniors Bethany O’Dell and Briana McFadden. O’Dell has been named to the All-League Team three times, while McFadden, the 2008 Patriot League Player of the Year, has been honored twice.  

Lafayette  
The Leopards will attempt to capitalize on their momentum from the Patriot League Tournament. Seventh-seeded Lafayette upset American and Navy to reach the championship game before falling to top-seeded Lehigh. Back in the fold is leading scorer LaKeisha Wright (11.1 ppg).  

Lehigh  
Patriot League Player of the Year Erica Prosser and Patriot League Tournament MVP Alex Ross return to lead the Mountain Hawks after guiding Lehigh to its second League title and an NCAA Tournament berth. Ross buried a League-high 93 three-pointers, including a school-record nine against Binghamton. The Mountain Hawks will open the season in Tennessee, Ross’ home state. It will be the first time Ross has played a collegiate contest in her native Tennessee.

Navy  
The Mids improved by eight wins last season under the direction of first-year head coach Stefanie Pemper. Navy’s turnaround was the fifth-best in NCAA Division I. Center Cassie Consedine returns to Annapolis after averaging 11.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game as a sophomore.